Socratez

I am (in the near future) going to be replacing my cars suspention. After looking around I decided on Skunk2 Sport Shocks + Lower Springs. Now I am not very savvy when it comes to automobiles so I wanted to ask something to make sure I am getting what I want. Right now I have 11 yr old Stock shocks on my 1997 Del Sol Si. I notice it squeeks and takes bumps really badly plus the handling is ****. So by replacing the setup with the Skunk2 can I expect a softer ride + enhanced handling or is it going to be stiffer ride with enhanced handling. I am not racing this thing but I like to be a spirited driver. Any help is welcomed !!

Ice78transam

It will be stiffer, but more controlled, more deliberate if you will. And yes, handling should be noticeably improved over stock, mostly due to the lower center of gravity and lessened body roll.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

The SKUNK2 springs provide a pretty comfy ride. Just dont over do it with the shock settings. The car will sit pretty damn low.

By spiritied driving do you mean cutting people off in traffic and switching lanes fast? If so...it's a bad idea.

Take the car to a track. Autox events are cheap. HPDE events are a little expensive, but TOTALLY TOTALLY worth it. There's really no excuse for not taking it to the track if you like to spirited driving.

Your bushings may be torn or worn....that may be the cause of your squeaking. Check the condition of those. Get an alignment after the suspension goes on.

Get ready to buy new RLCAs and some other parts. Lots of your bolts will most likely be rusted shut.

Dont forget to clock your bushings when you replace the suspension.

Socratez

No cutting people off in traffic .. I live in a rural area so we have windy long well paved roads that the cops are never on ... I like to just go at them aggresively (I used to drive a bike) ...

As for the bushings where do I buy new ones or performance ones from. I am one of those people who want to "Do things right" the first time. What are RLCAs??? I went dumb for a mniute

Ice78transam

Rear Lower Control Arms, but there should be no reason to swap then out... Just the LCA bushing, thats the real B h of the process.

Socratez

Where I am replacing everything else with performance after market stuff should I take the same route with these bushings? I had my eye on those Lower Control Arms from Skunk2 as well but that is for a wee bit later i think rims, rubber, suspention, bushings is enough for the month of June LOL

Ice78transam

That'll do.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

stay away from polyurethane bushings for street cars. Far away.

The whole RLCA is easier to replace than the bushings. Plus if you F up more than a pair of bushings, the bushings actually may end up costing more than just buying the whole RLCA.

OEM LCAs can be had for pretty cheap from http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

They come with OEM rubber bushings which are king. The after market rubber bushings should go in the garbage the moment you take the arms out of the box.

I'd rather have used OEM arms with used OEM bushings than brand new shitty bushings on aftermarket arms.

Ice78transam

You don't like poly bushings? Curious.

Socratez

OEM RLCA over a pair of Skunk2? I am curious as to why? I mean I naturally assume that SKUNK2 parts give more "performance" thus the title of performance parts. This has got me scratching my head?!

When it comes down to it reserve some Extra $$$ for RLCA & bushings in case (high likelyhood) there is some issues with the install? I am not doing it myself as you can tell I wouldn't be able to drive this thing afterwards with my knowledge level!!!

Can somebody give me an aprox time frame a job like this would take? Is it a 1 hour thing, 2 3 4 ... I wanna make sure I don't get ripped off on the labour portion os this venture. I don't know this machanic at all as i just moved to a new city.

Ice78transam

Just springs? and bushings?
DO IT YOURSELF.
Rent the spring compressor from Autozone or simliar (free)
You'll need a propane torch to burn out the old bushings.
This is your first time. So Set aside 4 hours because you've never done this before.

A professional will charge you for three hours. Probably.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

^^ You dont need a spring compressor. Trust me. I've done this about a billion times. You just leave the strut mounts bolted onto the car. Take off the shock fork in the front. Then undo the 14mm nut. Watch your feet/genitals. For the rear, unbolt the LCA completely from the car. Leave it bolted to the shock. Leave the shock bolted to the car. Place a jack under the LCA. Undo the 14mm tension nut. Lower the jack slowly and parts wont go flying like they did in the front.

Or just take the shock assembly out, point it away from face/genitals/anus and open up the nut. There's honestly not that much force in there. Dont be scurred.

BTW, I live in Aurora. Who do you know from around here?

I hate polyurethane bushings. I had 2 cars with poly bushings and I'd never do it again.

If I was building a track car, I may have a combination of polyurethane and as much pillowball as I could. I had an S13 with a pillowball/poly combination. Combine that with solid mounts and you have a vibrator. F that.

I had a 93 hatch with polyurehtane mounts. It made the car feel tighter, but it's not really something I'm too keen on. The ride quality went into the toilet. After the 93 hatch, I bought a 99 and LOVED LOVED LOVED the stock bushings. The performance difference was not exactly negligible...but since I was using it as a street car, it didn't matter.

I hate polyurehtane motor mounts too. I dont like the "race car" feel. Unless I'm actually building a race car. Well heeled, fast street cars that tear *** around tracks are the way to go for me. I dont sacrifice comfort, noise, or much else for speed....although my cars usually end up going fast around tracks anyway. Go figure .

You probably wont be able to tell the difference between OEM RLCA bushings or Skunk2 bushings. The arm strength isn't really a factor either. It's a sub 2500lb car with a multilink rear suspension. There's maybe 400-500lb on each rear wheel (considering that the Del Sol weighs about 2300lbs and has a 60/40 weight split).

You're building a street car. You dont really plan on going to the track. Forget the polyurethane bushings and the shiny LCAs..unless you want pretty looking LCAs.

OEM LCAs have OEM bushings (soft and durable) vs. the choice of either getting shitty rubber bushings or going polyurethane with the aftermarket LCAs.


It usually takes a LOOOOOONNNG *** time if you do it yourself the first time. A shop will quote you quite a while, plus they will tack on the cost of the bolts in the rear that WILL break. An experienced shop will know that the bolts will break and will usually warn you in advance that it may cost more than quoted.

Since you'd be getting new shocks and new LCAs, the cost may go down. The cost of labor for burning out old bushings and putting in new ones (and parts cost) will TOTALLY surpass just buying new LCAs.

Buying new LCAs is going to be more economical if you're having someone else do it. Unless God is smiling down on you that day and your RLCA to shock bolts dont break coming out.

You also have to consider that the RLCA to chassis and RLCA to trailing arm bolts will probably not come out. If you live around snow/salt, I can say they are 90% likely not to all come out. There's 6 bolts total. I can almost guarantee 2 of them will break and they will be in the WORST spots.

I have a suggestion thread on how to get out stuck bolts:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2256702

If the bolts in the chassis or trailing arm break, cut them out. Chop up everything but the trailing arm or chassis in the process since you'll be getting new RLCAs.

It's a bitch when **** gets stuck. Otherwise, it's very straight forward.

If you really dont know what you're doing, and you're not very car savvy, I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself as your life kinda depends on all that **** holding together.

If a shop does it, make sure they CLOCK YOUR BUSHINGS. If they dont, you'll go back for torn bushings in a few weeks or months and they'll say "oh that's normal". Make sure the shop knows what they're doing. If they dont know what clocking bushings is, they probably shouldn't be trusted.

Socratez

B Serious you are my hero ... that is the single longest post i have ever got in response to a question in a forum!! I don't even own a socket wrench so doing this **** is pretty much out of the question. I am new to this city I am in so I am gonna ask around. If I can't find a good place I am gonna end up just forking out the cash even if i shouldn't. I am gonna take this post to the garage I get it done at and tell em this is the info i was given. I just want to go in give them all the parts and tell them to do it. I don't want them to have to provide me with anything but labour. I would rather replace all the parts too. Bolts, bushings, LCA, shocks, wheels tires etc etc ... why half *** a job get them all replaced and then be done with it move to the next venture.

androO

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B serious &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">stay away from polyurethane bushings for street cars. Far away.

The whole RLCA is easier to replace than the bushings. Plus if you F up more than a pair of bushings, the bushings actually may end up costing more than just buying the whole RLCA.

OEM LCAs can be had for pretty cheap from http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

They come with OEM rubber bushings which are king. The after market rubber bushings should go in the garbage the moment you take the arms out of the box.

I'd rather have used OEM arms with used OEM bushings than brand new shitty bushings on aftermarket arms.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

ok this is some good info here but can you give me a reason why not to put in poly urathne bushings for street driving? i thought it was suppose to help the response of the car, no?

Ice78transam

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B serious &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

BTW, I live in Aurora. Who do you know from around here?

I hate polyurethane bushings. I had 2 cars with poly bushings and I'd never do it again.

If I was building a track car, I may have a combination of polyurethane and as much pillowball as I could. I had an S13 with a pillowball/poly combination. Combine that with solid mounts and you have a vibrator. F that.

I had a 93 hatch with polyurehtane mounts. It made the car feel tighter, but it's not really something I'm too keen on. The ride quality went into the toilet. After the 93 hatch, I bought a 99 and LOVED LOVED LOVED the stock bushings. The performance difference was not exactly negligible...but since I was using it as a street car, it didn't matter.

I hate polyurehtane motor mounts too. I dont like the "race car" feel. Unless I'm actually building a race car. Well heeled, fast street cars that tear *** around tracks are the way to go for me. I dont sacrifice comfort, noise, or much else for speed....although my cars usually end up going fast around tracks anyway. Go figure .

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Thats fair. I pretty much agree with you on the motor mounts... those can be harshhh. My buddy has 70A urethane and his crx is basically a big sex toy.

I'm from Naperville BTW, so real close

androO

yea b serious is great at answering other people's questions. thumbs up to him

B serious

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B serious &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I hate polyurethane bushings. I had 2 cars with poly bushings and I'd never do it again.

If I was building a track car, I may have a combination of polyurethane and as much pillowball as I could. I had an S13 with a pillowball/poly combination. Combine that with solid mounts and you have a vibrator. F that.

I had a 93 hatch with polyurehtane mounts (I meant suspension bushings). It made the car feel tighter, but it's not really something I'm too keen on. The ride quality went into the toilet. After the 93 hatch, I bought a 99 and LOVED LOVED LOVED the stock bushings. The performance difference was not exactly negligible...but since I was using it as a street car, it didn't matter.

I hate polyurehtane motor mounts too. I dont like the "race car" feel. Unless I'm actually building a race car. Well heeled, fast street cars that tear *** around tracks are the way to go for me. I dont sacrifice comfort, noise, or much else for speed....although my cars usually end up going fast around tracks anyway. Go figure .

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I made a typo in that post. When I said my 93 hatch had poly mounts, I meant poly bushings. I bolded it and put it in parenthesis.